Are people's ways of handling conflicts shaped by their culture? Our laboratory studies such cultural influences from a dynamic constructivist approach, using the tools of social and cognitive psychology as well as network analysis. Our methods include laboratory experiments, surveys of various types, and content analysis of archival data.

An axiom of this approach is that cultural patterns are dynamic rather than constant. We investigate conditions, such as stress or time pressure, that amplify people's reliance on cultural habits. Likewise, we study personality or motivational orientation that foster adherence to cultural norms.

This approach has also enabled us to model the behavior of bicultural individuals who have internalized more than one set of cultural norms.